


overload woes

by spiderboyneedsahug



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Fluff, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Sensory Overload, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, it's just irondad here lads, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 18:40:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17565899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiderboyneedsahug/pseuds/spiderboyneedsahug
Summary: When it comes to his sensory overloads, Peter has already figured out a communication system with May. For the ones that are so bad he can't speak.Mr. Stark doesn't know this.





	overload woes

**Author's Note:**

> yeeted from tunlge

They've been in the labs from the split second Peter was dropped off by Happy at the compound. Tony had dragged him in to fix the Spider-Man suit with haste -- he'd seen the news footage of just how bad Peter had gotten beaten up by Bad Guy of the Week, and he isn't willing to take any chances with his safety. Peter hadn't had any problems with being dragged around, being a science kid and all. Being inside _Tony Stark's_ laboratory to fix his own superhero suit is a dream that only a year ago he hadn't thought could ever come true. And then said billionaire popped up in his apartment and suddenly a bunch of those childhood dreams were reality and. Well. Let's just say Peter's always, _always_ excited to spend time up at the Avengers compound. Who wouldn't be?

It had been fine for a few hours. Mr. Stark ordered pizza, the super cheesy, too-many-toppings, crazy expensive kind that Peter could literally never refuse but could never afford and he's had whatever non-alcoholic drink he could ever dream of resting at his fingertips the whole time. It's great. For the first time since the spider bite all those months ago, Peter's appetite is sated and he realises how wonderful it is to live life on a full stomach. When he isn't eating or drinking he's helping Mr. Stark go through the damaged tatters of his suit and suggest upgrade ideas randomly from his perch on the ceiling. Peter makes bad puns. Mr. Stark laughs at them if they're bad enough. Sometimes Mr. Stark will drop a pun so funny he'll nearly fall off the ceiling. He doesn't, but the point still stands.

And then there's this small throbbing ache at the back of his head. Peter nurses a glass of water in hopes that it's just dehydration, and that he can keep it at bay by having the nice, cold water. He would take an aspirin, but the painkiller won't even touch him through his metabolism. So Peter, growing irritated by the ache that is spreading through him and always flares up whenever he blinks, whenever he hears his own near-silent footsteps, whenever he's foolish enough to move. He's aware, only faintly, that it's the beginnings of a massive sensory overload and he's gonna be curled up in a tiny ball, hopefully not throwing up on the floor soon, but he really, really doesn't want to make Mr. Stark aware that his senses are bugging out and occasionally the pain makes his brain stop working. 

So he doesn't. Peter drops down to the worktable that Mr. Stark said was his (but he can't quite believe that to be honest) and tries to pick up some equipment to try and fix the insides of his web shooters before Mr. Stark has to do that, too, but his hands won't stop shaking and every time it taps against the metal table it stabs into his brain mercilessly. Peter rests the tools down and rests his head in between his arms, clamping them over his ears to try and mute out the sounds that keep hurting him.

Mr. Stark doesn't notice.

Or at least, Tony doesn't for a while. He's engrossed in the damages to the kid's suit (through a brick wall is a new scale of fight for the kid and the suit wasn't designed to sustain heavy hits like that. He's just getting to the very centre of the damages when FRIDAY speaks up abruptly.

_‘Boss? Mr. Parker-’_

Tony looks up tiredly to the ceiling where he knows Peter to have been, but the spot is vacant and there's no sign the spiderling had ever even been there. Tony blinks and looks around until his eyes fall on the kid's worktable. Peter’s got his head on the desk, palms against his ears, body drawn taut as a bowstring. That’s not normal. He puts the suit and his tools. They hit the desk, and the sound echoes. He sees Peter flinch, but- Tony hasn’t seen this behaviour from the kid before, and it’s weird. He can’t tell if it’s some flashback or just being tired, but Peter isn’t like this. Even after all these fights, after Toomes, Peter hasn't been like this and it's worrying.

"Peter?"

Peter recoils, makes a strangled noise, and presses his hands harder over his- over his ears? Too loud? Talking is a no-go, then. Tony scoots over on his chair and rests a hand on Peter's shoulder to try and bring him out of it, but he flinches. Physical contact is a big 'no', too. He can see the rapid twitching motion of a finger out of the corner of his eye, but his brain doesn’t make sense of it until-

_B.R.I.G.H.T._

_H.U.R.T.S._

_L.O.U.D._

Morse code? Tony didn't know Peter knows Morse code. But... _loud._ Peter’s got sensitive hearing. Tony frowns. But finds himself tapping in response.

_K.I.D._

He doesn’t expect Peter to hear it — it’s only a soft, muffled noise, after all. The finger twitches, not meeting the table, almost surprised, then-

_T.O.N.Y._

It’s the first time he ‘hears’ Peter address him by that name, and- well, it’s painful to watch.

_P.E.T.E.R._

He waits out the next series of taps. They’re jerkier than before.

_T.O.O._

_M.U.C.H._

_O.V.E.R.L.O.A.D._

Overload, overload, overload- sensory overload. Peter’s got enhanced senses, he's just finished a fight, he's bound to freak out after the adrenaline rushes away. Right. Shit. As if reading his mind, FRIDAY dims the light, and some of the quiet, distant chatter of the TV Tony could hear dies away.

Peter slumps. Tony catches him before he can fall from his stall.

 _T.H.A.N.K.S._  is pressed into his hand by shaky fingers.

He lies Peter down on the cot in the lab — just to make sure nothing happens.

_N.O._

_P.R.O.B.L.E.M._

_K.I.D.D.O._

**Author's Note:**

> hhhh sned prompts


End file.
